title: Detection of Alzheimer's amyloid beta aggregation by capturing molecular trails of individual assemblies.
abstract: Assembly of Amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides, in particular Abeta-42 is central to the formation of the amyloid plaques associated with neuro-pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Molecular assembly of individual Abeta-42 species was observed using a simple fluorescence microscope. From the molecular movements (aka Brownian motion) of the individual peptide assemblies, we calculated a temporal evolution of the hydrodynamic radius (R(H)) of the peptide at physiological temperature and pH. The results clearly show a direct relationship between R(H) of Abeta-42 and incubation period, corresponding to the previously reported peptide's aggregation kinetics. The data correlates highly with in solution-based label-free electrochemical detection of the peptide's aggregation, and Abeta-42 deposited on a solid surface and analysed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first analysis and characterisation of Abeta aggregation based on capturing molecular trails of individual assemblies. The technique enables both real-time observation and a semi-quantitative distribution profile of the various stages of Abeta assembly, at microM peptide concentration. Our method is a promising candidate for real-time observation and analysis of the effect of other pathologically-relevant molecules such as metal ions on pathways to Abeta oligomerisation and aggregation. The method is also a promising screening tool for AD therapeutics that target Abeta assembly.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi City, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan. Electronic address: munde@jaist.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Mun'delanji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vestergaard
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi City, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka, 567-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi City, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genome Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8562, Japan.
authors.forename: Monotori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudou
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka, 567-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tamiya
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi City, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takagi
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D017510:Protein Folding
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42)